Euroscepticism (sometimes euroskepticism or Anti-EUism) is the body of criticism of the European Union (EU), and opposition to the process of political European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state. Other views occasionally seen as eurosceptic include perceptions of the EU being undemocratic or too bureaucratic.[1][2] A Eurobarometer survey of EU citizens in 2009 showed that support for membership of the EU was lowest in Latvia, the United Kingdom, and Hungary.[3]:91–3 Euroscepticism is mostly found in far-right or conservative political parties, as a consequence of the contrast between nationalism and supranational identity.[4]

While having some overlaps, Euroscepticism and Anti-Europeanism are different. Especially some aspects of the Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom has been mirrored and parroted by US authors.[5] Anti-Europeanism has always had a strong influence in American culture and American exceptionalism, which sometimes sees Europe on the decline or as a rising rival power, or both.[5]

Flag of the "EUSSR", a common trope[6] among (hard) Eurosceptics comparing the EU with the USSR.

There can be considered to be two different types of Eurosceptic thought, which differ in the extent to which adherents reject European integration and in their reasons for doing so. Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart described these as 'hard' and 'soft' euroscepticism.[7][8][9][10][11]

Alternative names for 'hard' and 'soft' euroscepticism are respectively 'withdrawalist' and 'reformist' euroscepticism. Some 'hard' eurosceptics such as UKIP prefer to call themselves euro-realists rather than 'sceptics', and regard their position as pragmatic rather than "in principle". Also many on the left such as Tony Benn tend not to use the phrase to refer to themselves even though they share many of their criticisms of the European Union and they may use phrases such as euro-critical or just call themselves democrats or socialists and their scepticism as part of their wider belief in democracy or socialism.

The Czech president Václav Klaus rejected the term "euroscepticism", with its purported negative undertones, saying (at a meeting in April 2012) that the expressions for a eurosceptic and his opponent should be "a Euro-realist" and someone who is "Euro-naïve" (respectively).[14]

François Asselineau of the French Popular Republican Union has been blaming the use of the term 'sceptic' to describe the 'hard eurosceptic' or those who want to withdraw from the EU and would rather advocate the usage of the term 'euro opponent' .[15] However, he believes the usage of the term 'sceptic' for the 'soft eurosceptic' to be proper since other eurosceptic parties in France are 'merely criticizing' the EU without taking into account that the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union is modifiable only under the unanimity agreement of the whole EU members that he considers as impossible to reach.[16]

A survey in 2012[update], conducted by TNS Opinion and Social on behalf of the European Commission, showed that, for the European Union overall, those who think that their country's interests are looked after well in the EU are now in a minority (42%).[17] Those with a positive image of the EU are down from a high of 52% in 2007 to a low of 31% in May 2012 (unchanged since November 2011); this compares with 28% with a negative image of the EU, and 39% with a neutral image (up from a low of 14% in 2007).[18][19]

About 31% of EU citizens tend to trust the European Union as an institution, and about 60% do not tend to trust it.[20] Trust in the EU has fallen from a high of 57% in 2007 to 31% in 2012, while trust in national governments has fallen from 43% in 2007 to 28% in 2012; so the EU has moved from enjoying much more trust than national governments in 2007 to a position of enjoying only slightly more trust than national governments in 2012.[19] Trust in the EU is lowest in the United Kingdom (16% trust, 75% distrust) and highest in Bulgaria (55% trust; 15% distrust). Trust in national governments in these two countries is 21% (distrust 77%) and 28% (distrust 64%) respectively.[20]

A study analysed voting records of the Fifth European Parliament and ranked groups, concluding:[21] "Towards the top of the figure are the more pro-European parties (PES, EPP-ED, and ALDE), whereas towards the bottom of the figure are the more anti-European parties (EUL/NGL, G/EFA, UEN and EDD)."

The elections in 2009 saw a significant drop in some areas in support for Eurosceptic parties, with all MEPs from Poland, Denmark and Sweden losing their seats. However, in the UK, the eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party achieved second place in the elections, finishing ahead of the governing Labour Party, and the British National Party (BNP) won its first ever two MEPs. Although new members joined the ID group from Greece and the Netherlands, it was unclear as to whether the ID group would reform in the new parliament.

The elections in 2014 saw a big anti-Establishment vote in favour of eurosceptic parties taking around 25% of the seats available. Those who won their national elections include: UKIP in the UK (the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won a national vote), National Front in France, The Peoples Party in Denmark, SYRIZA in Greece, and second places taken by the Five Star Movement in Italy and Sinn Féin in Ireland. Following the election, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy agreed to re-evaluate the economic area's agenda and to launch consultations on future policy areas with the 28 member states.

Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, established in 1956 by former SS-members, are a right-wing populist party who mainly attract support from young people and workers.[22] In 1989, they changed their stance over the European Union to euroscepticism. They opposed Austria joining the EU in 1994, and opposed the introduction of the Euro in 1998. The party would like to leave the union. In the 1990s the party received 20–27% of the national vote, and recently received 17.5% in 2008. It currently has 34/183 National Council seats, 4/62 Federal Council seats, and 2/19 European Parliament seats.

Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, established in 2005, are a socially conservative party that had always held eurosceptical elements. In 2011, the party openly supported leaving the Euro-Zone, and in 2012, the party announced they supported a full withdrawal from the European Union.[23] The party has also called upon a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.[24] In polls it currently receives around 10%–15%, although in one state it did receive 45% of the vote in 2009. It currently has 13/183 National Council seats, 0/62 Federal Council seats, and 1/19 European Parliament seats.

Team Stronach, established in 2012, have campaigned to leave the European Union, as well as replace the Euro with the Austrian Schilling. In 2012, they regularly received between 8–10% national support in polls.[25] Politicians from many different parties including the Social Democratic Party (socialist), Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (conservative) as well as previous independents, switched their alleigances to the new party upon creation.[26][27] In two local elections in March 2013, it won 11% of the vote in Carinthia, and 10% of the vote in Lower Austria. It currently has 6/183 National Council seats, 1/62 Federal Council seats, and 0/19 European Parliament seats.

Ewald Stadler former member of FPÖ (and latter BZÖ) was very eurosceptic but in 2011 ironically became member of the European Parliament due to the Lisbon treaty. Before Stadler accepted the seat, this lead to heavy critics by Jörg Leichtfried (SPÖ) "Stadler wants to just rescue his political career" because Stadler before mentioned he would never accept a seat as MEP if this was only due to the Lisbon Treaty. [28] On 23 December 2013 he founded a conservative and eurosceptic party called The Reform Conservatives.

The People's Movement against the EU only takes part in European Parliament elections and has one member in the European Parliament. The pro-EU, but eurosceptic, June Movement, originally a split-off from the People's Movement against the EU, existed from 1992 to 2009.

Whereas the current Finnish administration (notably Jutta Urpilainen) has been more hesitant towards the EU monetary policy than the previous ones, Eurobarometers and other polls have shown that among Finnish citizens, the opinion trend has been somewhat reversed during recent years. In Eurobarometer 77 (fieldwork in Spring 2012), 41% of Finns trusted the European Union (EU-27 average: 31%), 51% trusted The European Parliament (EU-27average: 40%), and 74% were in favour of the euro currency (EU-27 average: 52%). The rise of a pro-European sentiment is mainly due to the existent wave of general internationalisation in Finland.[citation needed]

In France, many parties are more or less radically eurosceptic, varying from advocating less EU intervention in national affairs to advocating outright withdrawal from the EU as it is and from the Eurozone. These parties belong to all sides of the political spectrum so the reasons for their euroscepticism may differ, but they all opposed the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. Many French people are uninterested in such matters: only 40% of the French electorate voted in the 2009 European Parliament elections.[36]

"Referendum on saving the Euro!" Poster from the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) regarding Germany's financial contributions during the Eurozone crisis

The Alternative for Germany is a soft Euro-sceptic party that considers itself pro-Europe and pro-EU, but it opposes the Euro, which it believes has undermined European integration.[42] It has no seats in national but 35 seats in the state parliaments and obtained 4.7% of the vote in the 2013 federal parliamentary elections.

Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Golden Dawn, Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow, I Don't Pay Movement, SYRIZA, ANEL and LAOS are the main eurosceptic parties in Greece. According to the London School of Economics, Greece is the 2nd most eurosceptic country in the European Union, with 50% (only behind UK) of the Greeks thinking that their country has not benefited at all from the EU. Meanwhile 33% of the Greeks views Greek membership in EU as a good thing, marginally ahead of UK. 81% of the Greeks say that the EU is going in the wrong direction. These figures represent a major increase in euroscepticism in Greece since 2009. In June 2012, the eurosceptic parties in Greece that are represented in parliament (SYRIZA, ANEL, Golden Dawn, KKE) got 45.8% of the votes and 40.3% of the seats in the parliament. According to the 8 polls conducted in September 2014, the Pro-European (left and right-wing) parties (ND, PASOK, DIMAR and POTAMI) would get, on average, 40.2% of the votes. The Eurosceptic parties would get 50.05%. The eurosceptic left (SYRIZA and KKE) would get 38.7% of the votes and the eurosceptic right (Golden Dawn and ANEL) 12.35% of the votes, with SYRIZA ahead with an average of 31.8%.[44]

The Irish people voted no to initial referendums on both the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. There were second referendums held on both of these issues, and it was then, following renegotiations that the votes were swayed in favour of the respective 'Yes' campaigns.[47]

In relation to both the Nice and Lisbon treaties, the decision to force second referendums has been the subject of much scrutiny and widespread criticism. It is claimed that rejection of the Irish peoples decision to vote no stands testament to the European Union's lack of regard for democracy and lack of regard for the right of people of nation states to decide their futures.[48]

The left wing republican party Sinn Féin is one party which opposes the current structure of the European Union and the direction it is moving in.[49] Sinn Féin objects to the limitations and restrictions European Union membership has placed on the Republic of Ireland, as well as the European depletion of Irish sovereignty.[50]

The United Left Alliance is an electoral alliance of left-wing political parties and independent politicians in the Republic of Ireland. It shares some common views on Europe with Sinn Féin.[51]

The Five Star Movement (M5S), an anti-establishment movement founded by the former comedian Beppe Grillo, can be considered a soft Eurosceptic party. The M5S gained 25.5% of vote in the 2013 general election, becoming the largest anti-establishment and Eurosceptic party in Europe. The party also advocates a consultive referendum on the withdrawal of Italy from the Eurozone (but not from the European Union) and to return to the lira.[52] The M5S's popular support is evenly distributed all across Italy, but in 2013 the party was particularly strong in Sicily, Liguria and Marche, where it gained more than 30% of the vote.

Another Eurosceptic party is Lega Nord, a regionalist movement led by Matteo Salvini favouring Italy's exit from the Eurozone and the re-introduction of the lira. When in government, LN however approved the Treaty of Lisbon.[53] The party won a mere 4.1% of the vote in 2013, but two of its leading members are Presidents of Lombardy and Veneto (where LN gained 35.2% of the vote in 2010).

The Labour Party was not in favour of Malta entering the European Union. They, however were in favour of a partnership with the EU. After a long battle the Nationalist Party led by Eddie Fenech Adami won the referendum and the following election, making Malta one of the states to enter the European Union on 1 May 2004.

Historically, the Netherlands have been a very pro-European country, being one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, and campaigning with much effort to include the United Kingdom into the Community in the 1970s and others after that. It has become slightly more eurosceptical in the 2000s, rejecting the European Constitution in 2005 and complaining about the relatively high financial investment into the Union or the alleged democratic deficit amongst other issues.

The nationalist Party for Freedom (founded in 2006) wants the Netherlands to leave the EU in its entirety, because it allegedly is undemocratic, costs money and cannot close the borders for immigrants.[55]

The Socialist Party believes the European Union has already brought Europe 50 years of peace and prosperity, and argues that European cooperation is essential for tackling global problems like climate change and international crime. However, the SP opines that the current Union is dominated by the big businesses and the big countries, while the labour movement, consumer organisations and smaller companies are often left behind. "Neoliberal" measures have supposedly increased social inequality, and perhaps the Union is expanding too fast and taking on too much power in issues that should be dealt with on a national level.[56]

The conservative Protestant Reformed Political Party and the ChristianUnion favour cooperation within Europe, but reject a superstate, especially one that is dominated by Catholics, or that infringes on religious rights and/or privileges.

The ecologist Party for the Animals favours European cooperation, but believes the current EU does not respect animal rights enough and should have a more active policy on environment protection.

Parties with mainly eurosceptic views are National Renovator Party, New Democracy Party, MRPP, Portuguese Communist Party, and Left Bloc. Partido Popular, once a eurosceptic party is now a soft pro-European party member of the EPP. Portugal is the 8th most eurosceptic country in the European Union (not counting with Croatia) as shown by the "The Continent-wide rise of Euroscepticism", with 58% of the people tending not to trust the EU, behind Greece (81%), Spain (72%), UK (69%), Cyprus (64%), Sweden (62%), Czech Republic (60%) and Germany (59%).[58] The Eurosceptic parties currently hold 24 out of 230 seats in the parliament. The euroscepticism of the left wing prevails in Portugal.

Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, a Catalan socialist and independentist party, advocates the independence of Catalan Countries outside of the European Union. Spain is ranked the second most distrustful of the European Union, making it one of the three most eurosceptic countries in the EU, along with the UK and Greece. 72 per cent of the Spanish people do not trust the EU, comparing to only 23% that trust this Union. Nevertheless, it was one of the few countries to vote Yes for the European Constitution in a referendum in February 2005, though by a lower margin in Catalonia and the Basque Country.[60][61]

The June List, a eurosceptic list consisting of members from both the political right and left won three seats in the 2004 Elections to the European Parliament and sat in the EU-critical IND/DEM group in the European Parliament.

In general, the people are more eurosceptical than the parties. Around 80% of the Riksdag members represent parties that officially supports the Sweden membership, while polls have given approximately 50% for and 50% against the membership[citation needed].

Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom has been a significant element in British politics since the inception of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor to the EU. The European Union divides the British public, political parties, media and civil society.

The Labour Party membership is more eurosceptic than the party leadership, which is something the Conservative leadership has sought to exploit.[65]Bernie Grant, a Labour Member of Parliament said that he was "totally pro-Commonwealth and anti-European Union". Both before and after the 2014 elections, Labour has remained silent on the subject of offering a referendum and remain strongly pro-EU at present. Labour was strongly Eurosceptic until the mid 1980s, and stood in the 1983 general election on a platform which included withdrawal from the then EEC.

The Communist Party of Britain and The Socialist Workers Party, neither of which have any considerable power or influence, with not one seat in Parliament nor in a local council, both criticise the European Union from an ultra-left perspective and their "scepticism" is a form of left-wing euroscepticism although its adherents may reject the term.

The Green Party of England and Wales, which has one seat in Parliament in the House of Commons, also rejects the term "eurosceptic"; however it is critical of the current direction and structure of the European Union, believing that many issues currently decided at the EU level should be dealt with locally, nationally or globally.[66]

On the contrary, the Liberal Democrats campaigned as the "party of in", but their leader Nick Clegg suffered defeats in two debates with Nigel Farage resulting in his party losing all but one of their MEPs, a disastrous result for them, and their polling by November 2014 dropped to as low as 6%.

UKIP successfully formed the EFDD group in the 8th European Parliament.

The two main eurosceptic parties are Independence Party and Progressive Party. The parties won the parliamentary election in April 2013 and they have halted the current negotiations with the European Union regarding Icelandic membership and tabled a parliamentary resolution on 21 February 2013 to withdraw the application completely.

The public opinion was lightly positive in 2008–2009 during the currency crisis. Later the public opinion became more negative, with an average of 70% of those who stated an opinion on membership being negative. In early 2014 the tide turned a bit in the polls with 58% against and 42% for. Paradoxically a large majority has consistently been for proceeding with the EU membership application, the most common reason cited being curiosity about what terms EU will offer.

In 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin said: "What are the so-called European values? Maintaining the coup, the armed seizure of power and the suppression of dissent with the help of the armed forces?"[68]

Switzerland has long been known for its neutrality in international politics. Swiss voters rejected EEA membership in 1992, and EU membership in 2001. Despite the passing of several referendums calling for closer relations between Switzerland and the European Union such as the adoption of bilateral treaties and the joining of the Schengen Area, a second referendum of the joining of the EEA or the EU is not expected,[69] and the general public remains opposed to joining.[70]

^ abAnti-Europeanism and Euroscepticism in the United States, Patrick Chamorel No 25, EUI-RSCAS Working Papers from European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS) 2004

^ abTNS Opinion and Social (July 2012). "Question A13". Standard Eurobarometer 77 Table of Results (PDF). European Commission. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
Question: "QA13.4 I would like to ask you a question about how much trust you have in certain institutions. For each of the following institutions, please tell me if you tend to trust it or tend not to trust it: